France will deliver a shipment of Aster 30 anti-aircraft missiles and hundreds of armored vehicles to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said in an interview with French media on March 30.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Feb. 16 that France would provide Ukraine with a new defense package that included additional air defense systems, but did not disclose the details of the package at that time.
Kyiv faces an air defense shortage that has grown increasingly urgent amid intensifying Russian strikes.
Paris will "unlock a new batch of Aster 30 missiles" for the SAMP/T MAMBA system, the French equivalent of the U.S. Patriot, in response to Ukraine's air defense shortage, Lecornu said on March 30.
"We are also developing tele-operated munitions in a very short time, to deliver them to the Ukrainians this summer," he said.
The package will also include hundreds of old but "still operational" armored vehicles.
"To hold such a large front line, the Ukrainian army needs, for example, our armored front vehicles: this is absolutely key for troop mobility," Lecornu said.
"This old equipment, still operational, will be able to directly benefit Ukraine in significant quantities. We can talk about hundreds of them for 2024 and early 2025."
The armored personnel carriers are over 40 years old. The French military's stocks will be replaced by the next-generation Griffon vehicles.
Lecornu also said the defense ministry was working with the European missile manufacturer MBDA "to accelerate the production of the Aster missile." He also said he was issuing the company an injunction to build up its ammunition supplies.
Ukraine has faced severe ammunition shortages in recent months, contributing to the loss of a key front-line city of Avdiivka in February.
Lecornu on March 26 said that the defense package would include 78 Caesar howitzers and additional artillery shells.
